Not just Nourishment: Trustee Dinner for The Hudson School at Amanda’s

RER 2.7.17

Since 2008, the Trustees of The Hudson School have hosted a multi-course dinner at Amanda’s Restaurant to raise funds for the scholarship fund for the school.  Tuesday, February 7th was no different. It is a delightful and delicious affair, studded with board and staff members, parents, longtime donors, and old and new friends to the school. This year, the new Head of School, Paul B. Perkinson, kicked off the event with a speech and a new tradition. Not only was there good company and great conversation, but there was also remarkable food for a worthy cause.

2017

2016

2015

2013

RER

-->

2.7.17

not just nourishment: MINI COURSE food fun

RER 5.9.15

Yesterday was like the best day.

The last week of school is a “fluff week” including all kinds of fun activities like mini-courses, a field day, an all-school picnic and an awards ceremony. But yesterday was mini-course day, and as I spent the year doing the Food Fun after school activity, I chose to do a baking mini-course. I was excited because I had more time and freedom to do the things I love to do in the kitchen. So we baked cupcakes from scratch, something we could never do at school.

RER 5.9.15

RER 5.9.15

RER 5.9.15

RER 5.9.15

RER 5.9.15

After making the mini-course a competition like Cupcake Wars, six sixth graders (two teams) and I headed to the grocery store to pick up the essentials and decorations to fit into the chosen theme: Summer. Fifteen minutes of searching the aisles and brainstorming resulted in some super fun, creative and delicious results.

RER 5.9.15

The misshapen (though scrumptious) chocolate cupcakes became the canvases for summer scenes and warm-weather themes. There were marzipan suns with rainbow sprinkle features, Swedish fish surfing on sweet boards, and fish swimming in clear blue waters dotted with marshmallow fluff foam lined by graham cracker  beaches.

RER 5.9.15

Sour red and white gummy life preserver rings rested on waffle cone sand, while summer drink inspiration led to pina colada cupcakes with tropical pineapple skewers and rich butter cream frosting slid down the wide waffle cone like ice cream melting on a hot summer day.

I was supposed to declare a winner. But I couldn’t. They all won at summer!

RER

5.10.15

RER 5.9.15

baking with friend(s) is BEST

RER 1.19.15

To make up for a dinner cut short, my friend decided we would have a baking date. She deffo knows the key to my heart. Of course I wasn’t bothered by our truncated burger binge, but I am always up for whipping up some baked goods, taking photos and devouring the finished product.

RER 1.19.15

RER 1.19.15

So we started off with this recipe for chewy fudgy homemade brownies from Sally’s Baking Addiction and got a little bit experimental. We added a dash of pretty pink Himalayan salt in lieu of the normal variety, because we’re fancy like that. 

RER 1.19.15

RER 1.19.15

Instead of making some of that thick buttery frosting following the recipe or even some salted caramel frosting from a different recipe on the blog, we opted to be a little inventive.  To top our brownies, my friend created a caramel glaze with a hit of heat and savory. 

RER 1.19.15

RER 1.19.15

Our brownies were fun to make, but in the end something may have gone amiss. Maybe we added too much flour, resulting in fluffier cake-like brownies, not the gooey fudgy bars we were expecting. Maybe we cranked a tad too much of the pretty salt, leaving the treats a smidgen more savory than sweet. Maybe we mixed two different kinds of chocolate with two chocolate and sugar contents. Maybe we got caught up listening to Robyn and Oh Land and let the bad boys cook a little longer than necessary (I guess, “better safe than sorry” is not a phrase apt for brownie baking).

RER 1.19.15

RER 1.19.15

This was not about the maybes and things that could have been. It was about hang-time, gossip, and catching up. It was about bonding in a kitchen, playing with a pup, and inhaling the sweet smells of chocolate, sugar and butter.

RER 1.19.15

RER 1.19.15

RER 1.19.15

Breaking into that crust of firmed glaze and getting that perfect bite where the chocolate outshines the salt, and the heat and burned sugar come through, is pretty darn good. But baking with friends is best!

RER

1.19.15

RER 1.19.15